In South Africa carjacking has become popular in recent years. The South African law has lenient provisions for self-defense, and allows "lethal action" if personal property is in danger. Citizens are inventive in creating matial security systems for their cars. Poison gas, acid showers, flamethrowers, and automatic gunfire are not unknown. One such security system relied upon an airbag installed in the car roof. If a driver sat down without disabling the mechanism, the airbag would inflate and hit the victim atop his head with a force strong enough to render him unconscious. And that is exactly what happened to Pieter, who, armed with a pistol, attempted to steal this vehicle. When the airbag explosed, he thought that someone was shooting at him, and he instinctively fired the pistol twice. Unfortunately for him, his gun was still in his pocket at the time. One bullet hit his knee, and the other lodged in the base of his penis. (ow)

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Three candles that illuminate every darkness: truth, drunkenness, and love.

In South Africa carjacking has become popular in recent years. The South African law has lenient provisions for self-defense, and allows "lethal action" if personal property is in danger. Citizens are inventive in creating matial security systems for their cars. Poison gas, acid showers, flamethrowers, and automatic gunfire are not unknown. One such security system relied upon an airbag installed in the car roof. If a driver sat down without disabling the mechanism, the airbag would inflate and hit the victim atop his head with a force strong enough to render him unconscious. And that is exactly what happened to Pieter, who, armed with a pistol, attempted to steal this vehicle. When the airbag explosed, he thought that someone was shooting at him, and he instinctively fired the pistol twice. Unfortunately for him, his gun was still in his pocket at the time. One bullet hit his knee, and the other lodged in the base of his penis. (ow)

OUCH!!!

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"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe." Carl Sagan

LONDON (Reuters) - A British man who accidentally shot himself in the testicles after drinking 15 pints of beer was jailed for five years on Tuesday for possessing an illegal firearm, a court spokesman said.

David Walker, 28, was arguing with a friend at a pub in South Yorkshire, northern England, when he went home to get his sawed-off shotgun, which he jammed into his trousers.

But as he walked back to the pub, the gun went off, blasting pellets into his testicles. Doctors later removed what remained of his testicles during emergency surgery.

Walker admitted possessing a prohibited weapon at a hearing in June at the court in Sheffield.

Andrew Greff drove to a Bismarck hospital with one arm Saturday morning after he blew apart his other arm with a pipe bomb.

"I lit a pipe bomb, and it went off in my hand," the 21-year-old Bismarck man told St. Alexius Medical Center staff at about 6:30 a.m. when he ran through the emergency room doors. He said the accident happened at Kimball Bottoms, about 10 miles south of Bismarck.

Later that day, investigators went to Greff's apartment with a search warrant. No one answered their knocks, but they found a 20-year-old man hiding in the closet when they went inside. The man was not arrested, and police would not release his name.

Further investigation revealed that Greff's friend Doug Feist, of Bismarck, helped make the pipe bombs and that he and Greff were attaching them to propane tanks, Donlin said. Feist was arrested after a witness said Feist helped construct the bomb, Donlin said.

Earlier this month, Greff and Feist were accused of keeping poisonous snakes in Greff's 306 N. 13th St. apartment. They both face felony reckless endangerment charges for putting neighbors in danger. Greff was out of jail on a $500 bond.

Wait a minute... Did that say 15 pints? 15? I couldn't even find the shotgun in my pants at that point, let alone pull the trigger. And I'm not a cheap drunk. Yowza!

I've got another one for ya; if this guy's girlfriend argues like my husband, I can kind of understand, though...

Darwin Award: Avoiding a Fight19 December 1999, New York

A man died after falling off the roof of a moving car. He was arguing with his girlfriend during a drive home for Christmas along Interstate 88. Although the vehicle was travelling in excess of sixty-five miles per hour in the midst of gale-force winds, the man decided to exit the car onto the roof, presumably to escape from the fight. The luckless boyfriend fell to the ground, where he lay until paramedics rushed him to the hospital. He died the next day due to head injuries. The woman was charged with driving under the influence.

A sword-swallower died in Bonn after he put an umbrella down his throat -- and accidentally pushed the button that opened it.

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Darwin Award: Mental Eclipse11 August 1999, Germany

A forty-two-year-old man killed himself watching the total solar eclipse while driving near Kaiserslautern. A witness saw the man weaving bach and forth as he concentrated on the partially occluded sun. Suddenly he accelerated and hit the bridge pier. He had apparently just donned his solar viewers, which are dark enough to totally obscure everything except the sun.

(Greenwood) -- A teenager is in a drug-induced coma. Thomas Jefferson, 15, is clinging to life on a ventilator following a harrowing ordeal.

Authorities say it happened in front of a home in the 4300 block of Mahogany Drive in Greenwood on July 5th.

"[A friend] goes and gets the gasoline, the victim takes his shirt off, he pours the gasoline on the shirt, the victim puts his shirt back on and his other friend lights him on fire,? explained Eric Brown, White River Township Fire Marshal

Authorities say that happened after Jefferson and two friends ran out of fireworks and decided to try to light each other's clothes on fire. Jefferson was engulfed in flames from his head to his waist.